Peter A. Reilly Trial: 1974 & 1976 - Jury Opts For Manslaughter

While awaiting trial, Peter Reilly recanted his confession and sought legal assistance. Community support for his cause developed, and as news of the case spread, a number of authors and other celebrities in Connecticut provided financial support. Among his notable advocates were William Styron and Arthur Miller.

At a pretrial hearing, Judge Arthur Armentano ruled that the confession and selections from the tape-recorded interrogation could be admitted as evidence.

At the trial before Judge John Speziale, deputy state medical examiner Ernest M. Izumi described the extensive wounds to Barbara Gibbons. He also testified that it would be possible to inflict the injuries without being spattered with blood. The prosecution established that Reilly sometimes quarreled with his mother, and other witnesses testified that Reilly showed no apparent grief. His confession and excerpts from his statements to the police were introduced. Neither the defense nor prosecution could clearly establish the time sequence of events between the adjournment of the teen center meeting at 9:15, and the phone call from the hospital to the state police at 9:58. The defense introduced several witnesses who saw Reilly at the teen center as late as 9:30, and also John Sochocki, who agreed that Reilly had driven him home, leaving him there at about 9:45.

The jury found it difficult to reach a conclusion, and spent more than 15 hours deliberating the case over a period of two days. They asked several times to have segments of the trial transcript read back. Judge Speziale urged them to reach a unanimous decision, telling the jury to make their own judgments while considering what the majority is deciding. Reilly was convicted of manslaughter in the first degree and sentenced to prison for a term of six to 16 years.